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File photo of convict Dara Singh seen with a policeman
Odisha government has appealed to the Supreme Court of India (SC), seeking an extension of six weeks to respond to a clemency plea filed by convict Dara Singh. Currently serving a life sentence, Singh has requested mercy from the country’s highest judicial body, official sources said on Wednesday.
Also Read: 1999 Graham Staines murder: SC notice to Odisha govt on Dara Singh’s remission plea
The apex court had previously issued a notification to the State government, calling for their official response.
In his application, Dara Singh, also known as Rabindra Kumar Pal, cited the 2022 release of a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, also serving a life sentence, as a precedent for his own petition.
Singh was convicted for his role as the primary instigator in the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons.
The tragic event occurred on January 21, 1999, in Keonjhar district, when Staines and his children were allegedly burnt alive inside their vehicle by Singh and his associates.
Judicial proceedings and outcomes
Dara Singh received a death sentence in 2003, later commuted to life imprisonment. Of 18 initially charged, 11 tribal participants were acquitted by the Orissa High Court in 2005, while co-conspirator Mahendra Hembram remains incarcerated. The Supreme Court upheld Singh’s sentence in 2011, noting the crime’s ‘unparalleled brutality and barbarity’.
Long-term socio-political impact
The massacre intensified debates about religious freedom and Hindutva extremism in India. While the Wadhwa Commission cleared Bajrang Dal of organisational involvement, it highlighted systemic failures in preventing communal violence. Twenty-five years later, Manoharpur villages maintain fragile interfaith relations, with covert tensions persisting beneath surface-level harmony.
Must Read: Odisha man absconding in Graham Staines’ murder case arrested
Political context and motivations
The attack stemmed from accusations that Staines engaged in forced conversions of Hindu tribals to Christianity, though the Wadhwa Commission later found no evidence supporting these claims. Bajrang Dal activists framed the murders as defense against cultural erosion, citing alleged distribution of beef and Western hygiene products as provocations. The incident exposed deep sectarian tensions, with Human Rights Watch criticising the Indian government for exploiting religious divisions.
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